Ireland’s government said it will
cut spending by about 20 percent and raise taxes over the next
four years as talks on a bailout of the country near conclusion.

Welfare cuts of 2.8 billion euros ($3.8 billion) and income
tax increases of 1.9 billion euros are among the steps planned
to narrow the budget deficit to 3 percent of gross domestic
product by the end of 2014. The shortfall will be 12 percent of
GDP this year, or 32 percent including a banking rescue.